I Will Be the Greatest Knight
Chapter 163: The Trip Back

Chapter 163: The Trip Back

"How did you come about this?" Arthur asked his daughter as she sat on one of the beds in the large guest room.

The knight retired early, allowing his wife and son to stay out and seek late night dessert, but when he found his daughter guarding the hallways, he gestured to Sir Gunnar that he was taking her. The older knight understood and merely nodded as Irene was pulled into the guest room a bit more roughly than she liked to be handled.

Now he and his daughter were in their guest room and she looked guilty as she avoided his gaze from where she sat on her bed.

"In the Duke’s Tower, no one was willing to dance with the Princess when all the tables were moved upon her request," Irene admitted. "I tried to get Leif to come out with us but when he wouldn’t, Her Highness still caught me and forced me to come out with her. She said today it’s because I’m the only one who isn’t afraid of her."

Arthur was mostly worried about the implications of his title and the Royal Family being so intertwined with one another. If Irene were presenting as a girl, it wouldn’t have been an issue. However, even behaving in a way that might suggest the Princess had less than innocent interest in his ’son’ was dangerous waters to tread.

The King took the marrying off of the only princess unbelievably seriously.

Rather than chiding his child, Arthur let out a loud laugh at that.

"The reason you aren’t afraid of her is far different than she could ever imagine," Arthur admitted. "I merely want you to understand that if you continue associating with her and, even if it isn’t your choice, you are going to be put under a lot of scrutiny. Your secret will be harder to keep if the southern nobles get an inkling of the Princess preferring you over others."

"I’m sorry," Irene apologized and meant it. "I felt bad for her. She told me that she’s not allowed to do anything. I even overheard His Highness shouting at her that she wasn’t allowed to leave the room at the inn when we were there. I don’t envy her..."

Arthur smiled faintly as his ever insightful daughter spoke. Whenever he saw her out with the apprentices and using her sword as if it was fun, there was always an inkling in the back of his head that she was still worried about a life where she wasn’t allowed to do what she wanted. She would never truly be able to live her life in the carefree way a child was supposed to.

Ever since she spoke of her dream, it remained in his thoughts more often than not.

"Then I suppose I should thank my kind child for entertaining the Princess enough to leave an impression," he relented. "Simply keep in mind my warning."

"I will, dad," Irene agreed. "Now I will return to the others. There are still people wandering around the place and the Earl’s knights have their own night watch."

"Of course," Arthur responded.

She soon disappeared into the hall.

+

Fortunately, the days of dancing were over with, and Irene didn’t have to face the Princess beyond their brief interaction during the opening banquet.

Her duties to guard were as usual, but she couldn’t escape all of the comments that came from her fellow apprentices.

"For someone so uninterested, you keep catching the attention of a lot of unlikely people," Felix commented one day as they were in the practice yard, fortunately without the prying eyes of nobles for the most part.

Irene was stretching out her shoulders and rolling out her neck. It was time to warm up but she couldn’t escape the words of her friends.

"That isn’t my fault," Irene insisted. "Her Highness told me that she wanted to dance with me because I’m not afraid of her the way everyone else seems to be."

Leif was there as well, but he had been quiet since arriving. It was then that he decided to speak up.

"It isn’t as if Iro can say no to one of the Royals," he reasoned. "Either one of them would have caused quite a scene if someone said no to them directly."

"Must be nice," Irene uttered and rolled her eyes. "Because whenever I tell people I don’t want to talk about something, they can’t help beating the topic to death."

She glanced sideways at Felix before going to the line where Arin already stood. It seemed they would be practicing with him again that day.

Even though Felix had been warmer to her, he still annoyed her sometimes.

She realized the relationship was like that of a brother and sister. They got under each other’s skin for practically no reason. It was still funny to her that he ever considered her competition to Agnes.

There were two more days left of the banquet before they had to travel to the Duke’s Tower once more.

It was an arduous task that would take another couple of weeks. They were going a different path so the Royal Family could greet villages and townships they hadn’t reached so far.

Fortunately, this time around went much more smoothly. They even had Sir Arthur in tow in case something else happened out of their control, but once they made it to their halfway point, Arthur returned to his family who was waiting for him at his home.

The goodbye made Irene sad, but him surprising her with his presence on the way there was enough to carry her for a while longer.

After the fight which took her father’s hand, Irene was hesitant to be excited to return to the Duke’s Tower. It never really meant that a break was ahead of them but that more problems could arise.

It seemed that her instincts were good because, as the knights and apprentices arrived, they were greeted by the rest of the apprentices and head maid.

"His Grace’s health is quickly declining," Ingrid told the travelers as they walked through the back entrance.

"I will go to him," Gunnar insisted, handing his saddlebags to Irene who dutifully took them.

"No, you won’t." Ingrid hesitated as she spoke. "Her Grace will not allow anyone to see him."

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